Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.
Do You Take This Spy? Part 1
He had gotten a good night's sleep for the first time since last Thursday. He had checked on the results of their blood tests. He had picked up their wedding bands, and they were beautiful. He had made two phone calls: one to a little inn to confirm a reservation for Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, and one to the Justice of the Peace in Marion to confirm their wedding time slot. On the way back to the agency, he stopped to buy one long-stemmed pink rose.
It was a great day. Busy, but great.
She met him in the Q Bureau, and he told her all about his day, between kisses. He showed her the rings.
And he caught a glimpse of a familiar name on the file she held.
If there was one person whose name he did not want to see or hear or think about on the Tuesday afternoon before his wedding, it was Nick Grant. The man was a scoundrel, pure and simple. He was somehow both sticky and slippery. He specialized in separating men from their wives and their valuables.
He knew Billy would use him to make contact with the man. His meeting with the top counterintelligence agents of the free world had been postponed when he was injected with PD-2, leaving him with a few days to kill before he left for his honeymoon. Having to deal with Nick Grant was yet another thing he would never forgive Doneck for, even if it was only indirectly his fault.
Just as expected, Billy sent him out with nothing more than a "Good luck" to find and interrogate a man who was nothing but bad luck from beginning to end. He brought Amanda, who had a list of swanky hotels that had a Nicholas G—— on their guest list. If they didn't find Nick under an alias of Nicholas G-something, he'd be very surprised indeed.
There were many things he had in common with Nick Grant — though his reasons for flirting and relationships were utterly different, and he'd never involved himself with a married woman. One of those things was the propensity to use his real first name and simply change his last name. This was why there were people who knew him as Lee Sampson, Lee Stetsman, Lee Simpson, Lee Steadman, Lee Stanton, Lee Stetman, Lee Sanderson, Lee Sanders, and the one outlying Lee Gorvandeljec.
They went to the swankiest hotel first, exploiting Lee's begrudging knowledge of the man, and struck pay dirt. Nicholas Grayson, otherwise known as Lord Nicholas, was attending the International Trade Symposium.
They found him coming down the stairs, some utter nonsense spewing out of his mouth about the economy and beautiful women. Lee could have happily strangled the man, but he contented himself with merely interrupting. He was rewarded for his pains by being called Baron Von Schtetson — maybe the worst iteration of his name yet.
Nick came forward to meet the two of them, his smarmy face set firmly in an innocent mask that fooled neither of them.
"So, the gremlins are on my tail already," he said. "Hey, I was wondering who they'd sic on me."
He said it in the same way he might greet an old friend at a high school reunion, all politeness and naïveté.
Nick turned to Amanda and leaned forward, extending his hand as if he had just noticed her. "Nick Grant. Miss – "
"Mrs.," she corrected, her tone unimpressed. "King."
Not for too much longer, Lee thought with satisfaction, and as Nick's head dipped to kiss her hand, they shared a look of excitement and anticipation which he devoutly hoped the other man had not seen.
"Nicky, we have to talk. Now."
